Daily Food Diary – Day 109 of 365

Today  is Day 109 of my Daily Food Diary. 

Today is also Easter Sunday.  Happy Easter to you and yours! I hope you are having a special day.   Our weather is sunny and warm which makes for a special day for us.  Son Dan calling a few minutes ago, made this day even more special!

Today ALSO marks the twelfth anniversary since my Mother passed away.  (Hence the yellow flowers, which were her favourite).

My mother was not perfect, and as often is the case with mother daughter relationships, ours was not perfect.  (I’m not sure if this is true with most, but in my case I think I resented the fact that she made mothering look so darn easy!)  The cooking, baking, sewing, cleaning, home making and mothering in general.  She made it look too  easy.  For the record it isn’t! It is hard work and takes more skill and talent than I ever possessed.  🙄

Mother’s greatest skills shone in the kitchen.  It wasn’t just that she managed to prepare delicious meals, year round, on a very tight budget.  It wasn’t that she prepared a feast for EVERY single holiday.  It was that on top of all that, my mother was way ahead of her time when it came to serving up healthy, nutritious food at every meal she prepared.

My mother was born in 1918.  She was third eldest, in a family of ten – seven boys and three girls.  Mother obviously did her share of cooking, cleaning, laundry, and the like.  Growing up (on a farm no less) there was always plenty of experience to be had.  Growing up through the Dirty Thirties, taught her all about doing it all  on a tight budget.

When my Mother grew up,  she went to work as a cook’s assistant  at the Gravelbourg Hospital.  There, under the careful watch of the Catholic Nuns who ran the kitchen, Mother learned all about cooking healthy meals and baking appetizing deserts.   In those days, feeding patients nutritious, strength building foods was a thing.  The meals that patients were fed, were considered as important as the medicines that they were given and the medical procedures that they underwent.

My mother learned a lot about preparing and serving healthy meals in her time working in the hospital kitchen.  Over the years, we were fortunate that she used this  knowledge and skill to nourish us and ultimately our families.

That will always be remembered – and it will always be appreciated. 🌻💞

Eleanor Martel – 1918 to 2013 💞

Daily Food Diary – Day 109

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2) (4.7 mg)

(15) tater tots (233) (333 mg)

(1) sausage patty (190) (430) (1)

Snacks:

(1) c cranberry tea

(1/4) c unsalted peanuts (160)

(46) oz water

Supper:

(8) oz cap off grilling steak (600) (110 mg)

(3) oz russet potato (79) (8.6 mg)

(2) tsp butter (69) (63.3 mg)

(15) Asparagus spears (49) (31.5 mg)

(1/2) c mushrooms (22) (1.6 mg)

(1/4) c green olives (10)

(1) tsp olive oil (40)

(1) tbsp Kraft Hickory BBQ sauce (25)  (215 mg) (5 grams)

Total Net Calories: 1375

Net calorie goal: 1255 – 1375 = 120 over 👎

Total Processed Sugar: 6 grams

Processed sugar goal: < 25 grams 👍

Total Sodium: 1197.7 mg

Sodium goal: 1500 to 2300 mg 👍

* A win for sodium and processed sugar by health guideline standards, but a true win for me and my lungs is 0 Grams of processed sugar!   I am not happy with Kraft for putting  the  five grams of sugar in the barbecue sauce, or for myself for not noticing it.  I seldom use condiments and neither Dan or I typically use barbecue sauce.  We keep it for company, and I just grabbed it last night, thinking it would be quick and easy. 🤦

That is it for today.  Take care and have a great day! 🌞💞

April 3rd Update

It is APRIL and yes I have graduated to my new eight pound dumbbells!   I definitely feel the difference between them and the five pound ones that I was using but I can work with them so I am pretty excited about that!

Getting there!

As great as it is to be able to up my workouts, the real payoff is feeling better, looking better, and being strong enough to LIVE my life.   When we woke up to a heavy dump of spring snow last week, I got out there,  grabbed our shovel, and cleared all of our walks.  About a hundred feet of deep wet snow and I crushed it. 💪

Dan took Molly to the dogpark yesterday morning, as usual.   Somewhat overnight, all of the snow had melted leaving Molly and her friends to run and wrestle in the mud. 

Molly & Ripple

Fortunately, with a bit of a brushing and her ‘self cleaning’ fur, we were able to put off bathing Molly for a few days.   If our weather holds,  the yard and park should dry enough to warrant a bath on the weekend.

Not looking too shabby!

We celebrated Easter this past weekend with a supper on Saturday for daughter Jen and family.  I wasn’t up for our typical turkey and ham extravaganza, so we opted for a celebration of spring.   We had a picnic type supper of chicken and ribs, assorted salads, pickles, and potato chips.  The honey garlic ribs were the biggest hit but all was enjoyed and appreciated.  With a cake, fresh fruit, lemon butter, ice cream and whipped cream for desert no one left the table hungry. 

Jen had to work early Sunday morning (6:30 early 😯) so she and her boyfriend Tanner left once the dishes were done and the kitchen set right.

The girls stayed behind to visit, have tea, and work on their chess skills.

Genie & Molly
Prim & Maddy

Alec (Genie’s fiance) had to work Saturday evening, but he dropped by to visit earlier in the afternoon and to deliver a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers.   Fortunately, Genie got off of work early so she was able to come and spend some time with him.   And…  Of course she packed up leftovers so he could have his Easter supper when he got home.   🍽️ 💞

Flowers from Alec

That is about it for today.  Dan is up in the kid’s playhouse straightening up and scrubbing the floor so I can start using it as a little greenhouse for the seedlings I started last week.    I have a few more to start so I should get to work on that.

Take care and have a great day! 🌞💞